Must be very wise. As a Fuji-X-User I have to change to LR in a few weeks when my GFX arrives.
So sad, but as a victim of a wise decision I feel much better. (sarkasm off)
Hi Harald,
I agree, but I can't verify whether selling more Capture One licenses/upgrades will add up to more than selling an 'x'-number of Phase One backs/cameras. It's kind of important to allow paying for the research and development for future products.
I too have questioned the decision, because there might be more money to be made by selling more licenses to
many more MF body users (Pentax+Fuji with a huge home and international market) than Phase One is ever going to sell of their Phase One products, due to the different price points. It depends on the number of Phase One products they sell, and the net profit margin of selling hardware through a dealer channel.
Someone who will never (be able or willing to) spend the money to buy a Phase One product, may well be able and willing to spend money on a Pentax/Fuji MF camera, and buy Capture One licenses+upgrades over time. The fear is of course that those who do consider buying a Phase One product, will opt for a cheaper competitive product instead, thus effectively killing their hardware division over time. That's not an simple bet. There are no second chances, once it's gone, it remains gone. There is also a lot of know-how coming from developing hardware and understanding the required software workarounds, so that's another aspect at risk of getting lost.
The competition with Hasselblad (and DJI) may have different trade-offs than with Ricoh-Pentax/Fuji.
So I do understand the difficult dilemmas that Phase One is facing, and the irritation at the (potential) user's side. But that's unfortunately how things are at the moment.
Cheers,
Bart